Muslims and climate change: How Islam, Muslim organizations, and religious leaders influence climate change perceptions and mitigation activities

Abstract

A growing body of research stresses the importance of religion in understanding and addressing climate change. However, so far, little is known about the relationship between Muslim communities and climate change. Globally, Muslims constitute the second largest faith group, and there is a strong concentration of Muslims in regions that are particularly affected by global warming. This review synthesizes existing research about climate change and Muslim communities. It addresses (a) Islamic environmentalism, (b) Muslim perceptions of climate change, and (c) mitigation strategies of Muslim communities. The analysis shows that there is no uniform interpretation of climate change among Muslims. Based on their interpretations of Islam, Muslims have generated different approaches to climate change. A small section of Muslim environmentalists engages in public campaigning to raise greater concern about climate change, seeks to reduce carbon emissions through sociotechnological transition efforts, and disseminates proenvironmental interpretations of Islam. However, it remains unclear to what extent these activities generate broader changes in the daily activities of Muslim communities and organizations. Contributions to this research field are often theoretical and stress theological and normative aspects of Islam. Empirical studies have particularly addressed Indonesia and the United Kingdom, whereas knowledge about Muslim climate activism in other world regions is fragmented. Against this backdrop, there is a need for comparative studies that consider regional and religious differences among Muslims and address the role of Muslim environmentalism in climate change mitigation and adaptation at the international, national, and local scales. This article is categorized under: Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge

How “green” can religions be? Tensions about religious environmentalism

“…A prominent example is the smoldering conflict between different camps of the evangelical movement in the US with regard to the government's climate policy (Carr et al 2012;Wardekker et al 2009;Nagle 2008;Veldman 2019;McCammack 2007). These tensions also emerge in other traditions, such as Islam (Koehrsen 2021). A study of halal wastewater recycling in Indonesia sheds light on the different positions that the three biggest Muslim organizations in this country assume with regard to the re-use of wastewater (Jamil 2021).…”

“… 2018 ; Edenhofer et al. 2015 ; Allison 2015 ; Smith and Leiserowitz 2013 ; Kilburn 2014 ; Koehrsen 2018 c, 2021 ). Representatives from both academic fields—environmental studies/climate change research as well as the religion and ecology debate—have pointed to the potentials of religion, arguing that religions could make a significant difference in addressing environmental challenges such as climate change.…”

“…While the relationship between ecology and religion has become an increasingly prominent topic in religious studies, environmental studies and climate change research have more recently started to regard religions as an asset for addressing environmental challenges (e.g., Haluza-DeLay 2014;Jenkins et al 2018;Edenhofer et al 2015;Allison 2015;Smith and Leiserowitz 2013;Kilburn 2014;Koehrsen 2018cKoehrsen , 2021. Representatives from both academic fields-environmental studies/ climate change research as well as the religion and ecology debate-have pointed to the potentials of religion, arguing that religions could make a significant difference in addressing environmental challenges such as climate change.…”

Evaluating the Impact of Environmental Education on Ecologically Friendly Behavior of University Students in Pakistan: The Roles of Environmental Responsibility and Islamic Values

“…However, some other schools of thought, e.g., Koehrsen [76], synthesizes existing research about climate change and Muslim communities. He found out that there is no uniform interpretation of climate change among Muslims.…”

Language, knowledge, power: The Discursive Construction of Climate Engineering Governance

“…This paper focuses on religious knowledge as a relevant lens through which the Earth system may be rendered 'thinkable and governable' (Gordon, 1991). As global systems of knowledge and practice, world religions provide resources that societies have historically drawn upon to understand moral and ethical questions related to humanity's role in and responsibility towards nature (Roltson, 2006, Clingerman and O'Brien, 2016, Koehrsen, 2021. Therefore, it is argued that 'religion has a role to play alongside other forms of knowing in any environmental discussion' (Clingerman and O'Brien, 2016: xviii).…”